Amenities

None. 50 feet of waterfront at the end of a short trail.

History

Camp Bay is a rarity in that its earliest records of private ownership belong to a woman. 

Anna and Cornelius van Schravendyk emigrated from Uithoorn, Netherlands, to the United States in 1874. In 1901, Cornelius had a stroke in the Dakota Territory, and lost the use of his right hand. The family wanted a place with milder weather for Cornelius, so they moved to Hope, Idaho, to stay with their son Henry, who had built a cabin on Pearl Island. However, Cornelius died before he and Anna could obtain their own land. Anna, as a widow, was eligible to file for a homestead claim. At the time, women who were single, widowed, divorced, or deserted were eligible to acquire 160 acres of federal land in their own name. At the time, a married woman was not allowed to take land in her own name unless she was considered the head of the household. Anna’s claim was granted to her in 1902, located at Camp Bay. Her youngest son, John, homesteaded next to her. 

Anna wrote to her sister describing the mild climate, saying that the soil seemed very fertile and she’d been able to grow potatoes “as big as a milk jug.” She also described selling farm wares to early Hope tourists: “As the countryside here is so beautiful, many strangers come here in the summer, sometimes also for their health, they imagine they’ll be strong and healthy here,” she wrote to her sister in 1908. “As you know, rich people have their whims and so they’re walking in our pine-forests, breathing the air and they feel their lungs growing stronger everyday. We are patient with them, they pay well for … eggs and vegetables, but it takes a lot of time, for they have nothing to do and the Americans love talking.” Anna lived on her homestead at Camp Bay until her death on March 14, 1913.

In 1924, Robert Schraeder gave or sold part of the land back to the public, and the public occasionally used the paved right-of-way to the edge of the lake until 2022, when private developers convinced Bonner County commissioners to vacate the last half-mile of county road dead-ending into the lake. A legal challenge and overwhelming public opposition resulted in an agreement that the developer would provide a non-motorized trail and 50 feet of waterfront in another part of the bay, which is why this site exists.